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#1
September 8, 2011, 09:29:16 AM
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Rate My Team (Sandstorm)
I haven't ever really asked for people to rate/judge any of my teams, but I'm curious to see what others think.
First off, before I start listing my pokemon, I just want to let it be known that I usually carry one or two NU/UU Pokemon on an OU team. Why? Because I'm weird. I know that my team could be much better if all six pokemon were OU tier, but I think that's no fun, and it takes away from the element of surprise. I like to use other pokemon in weather team combinations outside of OU that can still work fairly well. Ok, enough blabber, let me show off what I got. This is my main sandstorm team that I've used in 5th gen wifi. Registeel ~Stealth Rock ~Thunder Wave ~Gyro Ball ~Seismic Toss EV spread: 252 HP, 144 special defense, 114 defense. Impish nature holding leftovers. Description: This is my lead most of the time, just for the sole purpose of setting up stealth rocks and being a bulky annoyance. Tyranitar ~Dragon Dance ~Crunch ~Stone Edge ~Flamethrower EV spread: 160 HP, 160 defense, 120 special defense, 40 attack, 30 speed. Adamant nature holding leftovers. Description: Typical T-tar to induce Sandstorm. The EV spread is kinda choppy, but I wanted a fair mix of bulk and power, I wasn't sure how to divide it though. I carry Flamethrower even though no special attack EVs or stat boosting moves are carried whatsoever, but this is to get rid of pesky Scizors and Ferrothorns. Metagross ~Thunderpunch ~Zen Headbutt ~Meteor Mash ~Agility EV spread: 180 Attack, 114 speed, 216 HP. Adamant nature holding leftovers. Description: Now this is where I really start to get offensive. Yes, I have three pokemon who use leftovers so far. I'm pretty sure that is illegal in some clauses (item clause) but I don't play by item clause if I can help it. xD I was thinking about replacing leftovers with life orb, but I'm always drawn to be partially bulky even on otherwise completely offensive movesets. ANYWAYS this Metagross is one of my sweepers. I set up one or two agilities, and then start hammering away. Reuniclus ~Focus Blast ~Shadow Ball ~Psychic ~Recover EV spread: 252 HP, 252 defense, 4 special defense. Calm nature holding leftovers. Description: OMG A FOURTH POKEMON WITH LEFTIES. But hey, it's a Reuniclus, so bulk is all but guaranteed. This is the only pokemon on my team that is not ground/rock/steel, but it is still unaffected by Sandstorm thanks to it's lovely ability called Magic Guard. I was contemplating replacing Lefties for Rocky Helmet, but again, lefties gets the best of my judgment. I'm a sucker for HP recovery. This set is for bulk, but Reuniclus still has good special attack, so it has a mostly special attacking moveset. I also use this Reuniclus in my baton pass teams (typically I will baton pass either special attack or defensive boosts to it). Nidoking ~Fire Blast ~Earth Power ~Focus Blast ~Thunder EV spread: 252 special attack, 252 speed, 4 HP. Timind nature holding Life Orb. Description: Ironically my best sweeper on this team is not even OU tier! Nidoking, thanks to it's ability Sheer Force, can make incredible usage of Life Orb. Attacking power sky rockets, and I don't get any damage recoil. The only downside is that my attacks' second effects are cancelled. But this is not much of a downside, since the power of my attacks are multiplied so much. Now you may ask, why do I prefer more powerful attacks with less accuracy? I like to get every last bit of power out of the sheer force + life orb combination. And oddly enough, my attacks like Thunder and Fire Blast have a reputation for hitting most the time, which is awesome. Landorus ~Swords Dance ~Earthquake ~Stone Edge ~Outrage EV spread: 252 attack, 252 speed, 4 HP. Jolly nature holding Focus Sash. Description: This is my second Life Orb sweeper. I typically just go for SD my first turn, wanting to get my attack boosted, and then I start plowing through my opponent. Focus Sash is just assure that I get at least one SD up, but this might get derailed if stealth rocks are up. In that case I'll just start attacking immediately, which isn't a half bad idea since Landorus still has great power even without a SD boost. Not to mention it's ability, Sand Force, further increases the attacking power of EQ and Stone Edge while in Sandstorm. Well that's my team. Leave comments/feedback, I'll be sure to take any criticism and consider making any changes. Just please, no one suggest that I use Gliscor, because I don't like using Gliscor on Sandstorm teams. Just too freaking status-quo. |
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#2
September 8, 2011, 11:04:48 AM
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Having Registeel as a lead is rather unique in such a metagame, but also dangerous. There is no perfect lead this generation, but Registeel will not be as useful. Being a Steel gym leader, I have tried every bulky Steel Pokémon as a lead, including Registeel, so I am talking from experience. This is due to the fact that the strong Prankster, Thundurus, is used as a lead in many occasions. With Taunt, your lead will be shut down, Gyro Ball is not very effective and Seismic Toss won't be enough to KO Thundurus before using Focus Blast. Not only that, but two very common walls like Gliscor and Skarmory can Taunt your Pokémon and Roost any damage from Seismic Toss. Other than that, Registeel is incapable of stopping Ninetales nor Politoed, while both of them posses a great thread. Registeel might be effective against Tyranitar, unless it carries Fire Blast.
As for Tyranitar, this set is no longer that effective, nor is Dragon Dance. Truthfully, it is more of a waste of time with Breloom and Conkeldurr roaming around commonly, striking with their Mach Punch. A useful set can be the Choice Scarfed one, which allows you to check Lati@s, Gengar and Reuniclus quite well. Another viable option is a mixed set, which is more useful than yours; using both flamethrower for Scizor, Foretress and Ferrothorn, and Ice Beam for the so common Gliscor and the even Landorus. All of these will get OHKO unless there is Rain in effect (in case of flamethrower). If you use these two sets, then Crunch is a must to get rid of the Psychic and Ghost types and as a strong STAB. If Registeel or another Pokémon is using Stealth Rock, then teach Tyranitar Superpower for the sake of Heatran. Reuniclus needs Calm Mind to set up, as without it, its offensive power won't be that great and won't accomplish what is desired. It is up to you to substitute what you want, but I prefer recover. I strongly adivce you to swap Thunder with Thunderbolt, as although some power will be lost, but when it is in Sandstorm and even in Sunny Day, Thunder's accuracy will drop to 50%, which is not really great. Finally for Landorus, swap the strong but reckless Outrage, which won't be of that great help, with Hidden Power [Ice], since then, you would not only KO dragons (which should be eliminated by Stone Edge in the first place), but you can deal with Gliscor too, otherwise, it would wall you completely. That's what I can think of right now. I didn't check the synergy of your team and how your weaknesses are covered though. I just analyzed each set. |
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#3
September 8, 2011, 01:11:54 PM
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I'm not going to analyse your team members individually because Spirit covered enough in my opinion, but I want to point out that your team has some really concerning weaknesses; 4 weaknesses to Ground and 3 weaknesses to Water show lack of synergy between your team members, so you might want to consider covering these weaknesses before one of your opponents exploits you. Also, I find it a little strange that you have no Excadrill on your team, since it is considered the crux of all Sandstorm teams this generation. If you decide to substitute one of your team members for Excadrill, I recommend the standard Swords Dance set:
Excadrill @ Life Orb Ability: Sand Rush EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk) - Swords Dance - Earthquake - Rock Slide - X-Scissor Quote:
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#4
September 8, 2011, 02:21:45 PM
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And yes, I'm aware that my team lacks synergy and is vulnerable to common typings like water/ice/ground, and I am trying to fix that. |
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#5
September 8, 2011, 06:09:54 PM
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Quote:
Last edited by AuraKshatriya; September 8, 2011 at 06:12:03 PM. |
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#6
September 9, 2011, 02:34:57 AM
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As for Gyro Ball, Electric Pokémon resist Steel types, which is why I mentioned it won't be as effective as desired.
And sorry for the mistake; Aura is right about Sandstorm doesn't affect Thunder's accuracy, but Sunny Day does, which is a problem. In terms of Landorus, I don't recommend Explosion. Although it has a strong base power, but in this generation, it lost half of its power, as it used to cut the foe's Pokémon to half as the damage was calculated, providing a base power of 500. Now that this no longer exists, more walls are able to withstand this move. Using Explosion, doesn't solve the problem of Gliscor, while Hidden Power [Ice], will OHKO Gliscor, even if you are not investing EVs in Sp. Atk. Metagross' set is rather a basic set with the freedom to swap with any move you desire. It is really up to you to decide which moves to use after having a look at what Pokémon cause you a trouble. Thunder Punch strikes Gyarados and other water types, while you can also use Ice Punch for the sake of Dragons, Gliscor and Landorus. Zen Headbutt is good against Fighting types and is also the only way to hit Rotom-W with a normal effective move, but this leaves you unprepared for Steel types, so you can also use Earthquake. It all depends on what counters you want to check, which is why I can't give you a final word. |
I've used the Sheer Force combination before (and in fact, my only DW Pokemon in Pokemon White is my Nidorino). Nidoking is more Physically-inclined, but not by too large a margin, so I suppose Special moves are okay. There are better options for a Pokemon based around Sheer Force, in terms of Base offensive stats, but to each his own. 
